Just a Scratch
by sheeve
Summary: Pyrrha diligently works with Jaune to improve his combat skills. But sometimes things can get a little rough...


_Crunch!_

Pyrrha's heart sank as she felt the unforgiving metal of Akouo make contact with Jaune's face.

"Unnnghhh!" Jaune staggered back, lost his balance, and fell unceremoniously onto his backside on the rooftop at Beacon.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha's voice dripped with concern. She quickly dropped Milo and the offending shield, she tentatively approached her friend to see what damage she had inflicted.

Jaune was covering his face with his sword hand. He waved his other hand at her with a dismissive gesture.

"Unnng... I'm fine! Really, I'm good, it's just... ugghh, it's just my nose."

Pyrrha reached out and gently removed his hand from it's protective place on his face. She drew in a sharp breath when she finally saw the injury. Jaune had been right. His nose was thoroughly smashed in and blood was flowing freely from both nostrils, dripping onto his silver chest plate. But it was his right eye socket that concerned her. The lumpy appearance of his cheekbone and the fact that his eye had already swollen shut told Pyrrha that she has managed to crush his eye socket.

Jaune looked up at her and tried to smile, his teeth streaked with blood. "See, I told you it's not bad. Nothing my aura can't take care of. " His voice was sharp and higher pitched from pain.

Pyrrha let out a sad sigh. As gruesome as the crushed nose appeared, Pyrrha knew that his aura would take care of it. After all, they had been in this position many times in the last two months that she had been coaching him. Twenty two times to be exact. Each time, his aura had in fact taken care of the injury. In the past it was just cartilage, which is much easier to heal than bone.

Broken bones during sparring matches were rare at Beacon. Most students automatically activated their auras before an injury like this even had a chance to take place. But thanks to Jaune's complete lack of formal training, he was still learning to do this on instinct. At first, Pyrrha had been careful to restrain herself and ensure that she moderated her strikes to not hurt her partner. However, Jaune had quickly caught on to the fact that she had been going easy on him. He begged her to stop protecting him; she had complied with his request out of respect for her leader. She was still careful, but only as careful as she was when she sparred with other students.

"Oh, Jaune..." Pyrrha forced a smile. "I got you pretty good this time. I think it's going to take more out of you to heal this time. Maybe as long as when I broke your arm last week."

He stared at her as he ran his hand over his caved-in cheek with his one good blue eye shining at her and laughed. "Yeah... you got me good. I can handle it though. I've been practicing my aura skills."

Pyrrha had to give him credit. Jaune was no wimp when it came to these injuries. He tried very hard to make sure she didn't feel badly by always maintaining that dopey smile and casual demeanor. She found him to be utterly disarming, but she never could quite dismiss the intense feelings of guilt that arose every time Jaune endured a significant injury at her hand.

"Okay, Jaune, well I'm here. Go ahead and try your aura." Pyrrha was fully aware of what was going to happen next and she mentally prepared herself.

Jaune concentrated and closed his good eye, inhaling as deeply as he could manage with his mangled face. His skin began to glow brightly as he activated his aura. Pyrrha had never seen another person with as much of this energy as her partner had. He began to radiate his life energy and it made the hair on her arms stand on end. She could see his nose reforming into its natural shape and his cheekbone and eye socket began to shift in his face before her eyes. His aura became so bright, she could have sworn her teammate was an angel of light. And then...

"Nnnnnngggh," Jaune managed a groan before collapsing on to his back. He had passed out from the exertion.

Like every time before when Pyrrha had broken a bone, he was not able to stay conscious to heal. This had led to some very long nights for her. They had been practicing in secret, mostly for the sake of Jaune's pride and also to keep away suspicion from the staff at Beacon. She would stay up on the roof with him all night, until he finally woke, all healed.

As she watched him lose consciousness, Pyrrha felt a sense of relief. She was free to wear how she felt on her face now. Her striking face fell into a look of concern and empathy, mixed with guilt. She let out a deep sigh as she reached over and maneuvered Jaune's limp form into a more comfortable and dignified position. She sat down with her legs crossed together like a schoolgirl, and pulled his upper body on to her lap.

Pyrrha looked up at the shattered moon that stood watch over Vale. It was always so gorgeous and peaceful up on the roof of the school where the friends sparred. The pale moonlight painted the campus with a soft white light that made everything feel calm, lovely, and maybe even romantic.

She peered down at Jaune's face. Her feelings of guilt had begun to dissipate as she allowed other feelings to surface. Pyrrha had felt drawn to this goofy boy's energy since the day she met him. However, his attraction to Weiss Schnee seemed to manifest at about the same time, she reflected on with dismay. She stroked his blond hair gently and quietly studied his form.

Pyrrha didn't know if she was ever going to surface on Jaune's radar. He seemed so oblivious to her affection for him. But it didn't matter. He was her leader, her partner. Pyrrha would be there for him as his partner and she would hold him through every cold night she could.


End file.
